How to sleep faster?
The military method
1. Relax your entire face, including the muscles inside
your mouth.
2. Drop your shoulders to release the tension and let
your hands drop to the side of your body.
3. Exhale, relaxing your chest.
4. Relax your legs, thighs, and calves.
5. Clear your mind for 10 seconds by imagining a
relaxing scene.
6. If this doesn’t work, try saying the words “don’t
think” over and over for 10 seconds.
7. Within 10 seconds, you should fall asleep!
How to fall asleep in 120
seconds
If the previous methods still didn’t work, there might be an
underlying blockage you need to get out. Try these
techniques!
Tell yourself to stay awake
Also called paradoxical intention, telling yourself to stay
awake may be a good way to fall asleep faster.
For people — especially those with insomnia — trying to
sleep can increase performance anxiety.
Research has found people who practiced paradoxical
intention fell asleep faster than those who didn’t. If you often
find yourself stressed out about trying to sleep, this method
may be more effective than traditional, intentional breathing
practices.
Visualize a calm place
If counting activates your mind too much, try engaging your
imagination.
Some say that visualizing something can make it real, and it’s
possible this works with sleep, too.
In a 2002 study from the University of Oxford, researchers
found that people who engaged in “imagery distraction” fell
asleep faster than those who had general distraction or no
instructions.
Image distraction
Instead of counting sheep, try to imagine a serene setting
and all the feelings that go with it. For example, you can
imagine a waterfall, the sounds of echoing, rushing
water, and the scent of damp moss. The key is to let this
image take up space in your brain to prevent yourself
from “re-engaging with thoughts, worries, and concerns”
pre-sleep.
Acupressure for sleep
There’s not enough research to confidently determine if
acupressure truly works, however the research that’s available
is promising.
One method is to target areas you know and feel are
particularly tense, such as the upper part of your nose bridge
or your temples.
However there are also specific points in acupressure that are
reported to help with insomnia. Here are three you can do
without sitting up:
1. Spirit gate
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The technique
1. Feel for the small, hollow space under your palm on your
pinky side.
2. Gently apply pressure in a circular or up-and-down
movement for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Press down the left side of the point (palm facing) with
gentle pressure for a few seconds, and then hold the right
side (back-of-hand facing).
4. Repeat on the same area of your other wrist.
2. Inner frontier gate
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The technique
1. On one palm facing up, count three finger-widths down
from your wrist crease.
2. With your thumb, apply a steady downward pressure
between the two tendons.
3. You can massage in circular or up-and-down motion
until you feel your muscles relax.
3. Wind pool
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The technique
1. Interlock your fingers together (fingers out and palms
touching) and open up your palms to create a cup shape
with your hands.
2. Position your thumbs at the base of your skull, with
thumbs touching where your neck and head connect.
3. Apply a deep and firm pressure, using circular or up-and-
down movements to massage this area.
4. Breathe deeply and pay attention to how your body
relaxes as you exhale.
Prepare yourself fully
before tackling these
techniques
If you’ve tried these methods and are still finding yourself
unable to fall asleep in two minutes or less, see if there are
other tips you can take to make your bedroom a more sleep-
friendly place.
Have you tried…
• hiding your clock
• taking a warm shower before bed
• opening the window to keep your room cool
• wearing socks
• a gentle 15-min yoga routine
• placing your phone far away from your bed
• aromatherapy (lavender, chamomile, or clary sage)
• eating earlier to avoid stomach digestion or stimulation
before bed
If you find the atmosphere in your room to be damaging to
your sleep, there are tools you can use to block out the noise.
Literally.
Try investing in blackout curtains, white noise machines (or
listening to music with an auto-stop timer), and ear plugs.
On the other hand, sleep hygiene, or clean sleep, is real and
effective.
Before you truly take on the military method or 4-7-8
breathing, see what you can optimize to your bedroom for
soundless slumber.
Christal Yuen is an editor at Healthline who writes and edits content revolving around sex,
beauty, health, and wellness. She’s constantly looking for ways to help readers forge their
own health journey. You can find her on Twitter.
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Written by Christal Yuen on October 5, 2018
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